The Ghosts of Hogwarts
by conundrumzen
Summary: Helen Lovegood, Cyrus Malfoy, Hugo Weasley, and Lily Potter are in their fifth year at Hogwarts. They only thing they have to worry about is OWLS, who fancies who, sexual orientation, and quidditch practice. Until the ghost of Hogwarts start to disappear, one by one, starting with Helen's namesake, Lady Grey of Ravenclaw House. First story I tried my best, rated T cause Im scared.
1. Chapter 1

"Hugo, would you please just stop eating for one moment? It's honestly disgusting!"

"I'm sorry Lily, not my fault I'm hungry. I'm a growing boy."

Lily rolled her eyes, rummaged in her bag for headphones. "At least you could eat quieter," she muttered popping her earbuds in and leaning her head back against the seat.

The door to the compartment slid open loudly. Helen entered grumpily. She shoved her bag above her seat and sat down with a huff. Hugo was occupied with his sandwich and Lily with her music. No one seemed to notice how upset Helen was. She sighed louder. Still nothing.

The compartment door opened again and in walked Cyrus, wearing his signature all black and startling white hair. He carried himself with an air of self-pride and confidence.

"Lily, Hugo, can't you tell that your dear friend Helen here is upset?" He smirked and settled himself next to Helen, slinging his arms over her shoulder. "Now, tell me, Helena. What's on your mind, on this beautiful fall morning?"

Helen shrugged. "I'm tired."

"Codswallop!" Cyrus declared. "Lily, headphones out! Hugo, sandwich away!" He turned to face Helen. "Come on, Lenny. Be real, tell us what's up."

"It's nothing, really," Helen insisted. "I swear."

Cyrus looked skeptical but stopped pursuing it.

Helen rested her chin on her hand and looked out the window. The train wasn't moving yet, so she was staring out at the platform, all the young wizards and their parents, scattered around, talking animatedly, all of them carrying an assortment of trunks and parcels, broomsticks and owl cages. Her mother was nowhere in sight, but that was to be expected. She was probably looking for Helen's father, who had a knack for getting lost, especially in a room with so many people. Helen was only slightly disappointed that she had no one to wave goodbye to. She knew her parents loved her, even if they let their minds and bodies wander sometimes.

The train ride felt longer than usual. No one in the little group had been selected as a prefect, which was a disappointment to their parents, but somewhat of a relief to the kids. Several people stopped by to say hello, including Rose, Hugo's older sister, Albus, Lily's older brother, and Scorpio, Cyrus' older brother, who were intent on causing some trouble, as it was there last year at Hogwarts. Rudy Oakwood, a beater for the Gryffindor Quidditch team came by as well, obviously and awkwardly crushing hard on Lily. Lily was beet red by the time Rudy had left, and Cyrus, well Cyrus thought the whole thing was very entertaining and proceeded to poke fun at Lily for the rest of the ride.

Everyone, especially, Hugo, was starving by the time the students, excluding the first years, reached the Great Hall. And there was still the Sorting to do, and Headmaster Nightshade's speech. By the time the first years arrived, looking cold and terrified, Hugo was practically melting.

"I'm famished!" he complained as Amanda Armadill got Sorted into Slytherin. "Can't they hurry this process up?"

The surrounding Hufflepuffs nodded in agreement while clapping dutifully as Hudson Bunyip joined their table. Hugo felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around in his seat to face Helena, who was sitting directly behind him at the Ravenclaw table.

"What?" he asked grumpily. Hugo was never himself when he was hungry. He was more like a live wire, apt to explode at any moment.

Helen pursed her lips and reached into her robes, pulling out her wand. She gave it a wave, saying, "_Accio Crisps!" _Within seconds, a bag of potato crisps appeared in her hand and she presented them to Hugo, whose face was suddenly alight with glee.

"I stashed some in my bag before we left the train," Helen said, proudly. "I always come prepared."

"You're brilliant, Helen," Hugo said in awe.

Helen smiled sheepishly and turned back to her table. Hugo did too and continued watching the Sorting happily, ignoring the looks of longing coming from the rest of the Hufflepuffs.

After Vic Willows had taken off the Sorting Hat and sat down at the Ravenclaw table, the Headmaster stood up. Her speech was mostly a reminder of school rules, directed at the first years and Albus, Scorpio, and Rose. Nightshade also mentioned OWLs, which caused a certain amount of ruckus among the fifth years. Hugo had to admit he was worried for the OWLs, but he didn't let that get to him. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. Besides, the only thing he could think about at the moment was food. Corned beef, and kidney pie. Treacle tart and pudding. With a cold glass of butterbeer or pumpkin juice. Hugo closed his eyes and just imagined what it would look like. And how good it would taste. And smell. He could practically smell all delicious food. Finally, he opened his eyes. Well, that was why he could smell it. The table had suddenly, magically, been covered in all the mouth-watering foods Hugo had been dreaming about a moment ago. He dug in, not wasting a second.

On the other side of the Great Hall, Lily was visiting with Celeste, also known as the Violet Lover, and one of the ghosts of Hogwarts. She appeared to be around 90, but her actual age was completely unknown. Celeste was the biggest gossiper of Hogwarts and was always crushing on a student, which was both disgusting and hilarious. This year, that lucky student happened to be, of all people, Rudy Oakwood. Lily knew that Cyrus would have a field day if he heard about this. She tried to tune out Celeste's jabbering and the chatter of students all around her. She just wanted to think. About the upcoming year. About OWLs. About what Cyrus said on the train. _It's almost like you don't even like guys. You turn a blind eye whenever one of the throws themselves at you. _And he had laughed. Because it was a joke. Of course, it was a joke. But Lily couldn't stop thinking about it. She really needed to talk to Helen about it.

"What do you think, dear?" Celeste interrupted. "You think I could pass for a seventh year?"

Lily regarded the wrinkles covering Celeste's face, her old grandmother clothing, and she smiled. "Of course, Celeste," she lied. Celeste beamed and floated off down the table to talk to Rudy. Lily tried to feel bad for Rudy, and the torture she had just put him through, but it was hard. She almost couldn't help laughing when she saw Celeste place her transparent head on Rudy's shoulder.

Looking around, Lily now realized that she had no one to talk to. Helen was on the other side of the hall. Everyone else seemed engaged in conversation about their summer holidays and catching up with friends. Across from her sat Juniper Inkwell, Lily's roommate of four years. Juniper was a light-hearted, funny girl, and a complete nerd, like Lily. The only difference was, Juniper was confident, and out-going, whereas Lily was insecure and shy. Lily was studying Juniper closely, looking at her in a way she never had before. Juniper's hair was a curly mess of dark, chocolaty brown. She had bright blue eyes and a laughing and mischievous smile.

"Whatcha looking at, Lily?" Juniper was looking curiously at Lily, and so was Juniper's many, many friends and followers.

Lily jumped and looked guiltily down at the food on her plate. "Sorry, I was just…" Lily trailed off.

"It's alright," Juniper said, assuring Lily with a smile. "So, how was your summer?"

"It was nice," Lily responded with a shrug.

Juniper smiled quickly and returned to conversing with her companions, leaving Lily starstruck.

The rest of dinner past quickly. When Headmaster Nightshade finally did dismiss them, there was a rush of students to the doors. Cyrus stayed behind, as the first years followed the prefects to the doors. As always, four or five scared and lost first years stayed behind, unsure of what to do and where to go. The prefects had left without them, taking the rest of the first years up to the dormitories. Cyrus approached them, and led them up to the Slytherin common room and showed them their dormitories. He then headed up his own dormitory, his boots clicking on the marble tile.

The second the other girls in the room were asleep, Helen quietly climbed out of her bed and crept through the empty common room. She pushed her way out the door and hurried down the staircase to the fourth-floor hallway. The windows in the wide corridor were open, letting the cool outside air in.

"Hello?" Helen called out, walking forward cautiously. "Anybody home?"

The hallway responded with silence, aside from the hoot of an owl from a faraway tree. Helen kept moving slowly, as to not scare anyone.

"Helen?" A disembodied voice came from behind the wall. "Is that you?"

The figure of a beautiful young lady floated into the hall. The Grey Lady faced Helen and stopped. "I've missed you, little Lovegood," she said, smiling at Helen.

"I've missed you too, Helena Ravenclaw," Helen said with a smile, giving a quick curtsy.

The Grey Lady smiled back and laughed. "Look how much you've grown!" she exclaimed.

Helen laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess," she mumbled. She walked over the windowsill and sat down. "I wanted to talk to you about something, Helena," Helen said.

The Grey Lady floated to Helen and sat down next to her. "You can tell me anything, Lenny."

Helen shifted uncomfortably and opened her mouth as if to say something, but she quickly shut it. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "It really isn't that important," she said, her eyes still closed.

"Of course it's important!" exclaimed Helena Ravenclaw. "I want to hear it, Helen."

Helen nodded and opened her eyes, facing the ghost. "Well, there's this guy…"

A cackle coming from down the corridor interrupted Helen. Peeves the Poltergeist appeared, carrying Ms. Norris, the late Argus Filch's cat. Peeves had a grasp on Ms. Norris' collar, which had a closed locket dangling from it.

"Look what I've got!" Peeves sniggered. "It's a wild Ms. Norris in her natural habitat!"

Helen and Helena exchanged a glance.

"Peeves?" Helen said cautiously, standing up. "Maybe you should leave the poor cat alone."

Peeves cast a surprised look at the girl and smiled. "Ah! The young Helen Lovegood," Peeves exclaimed. "What are you doing out of bed?"

Suddenly, the small, round locket on Ms. Norris' collar burst open. Inside the locket, a mini portrait of an angry Filch.

"Student out of bed! Student out of bed!" shrieked the locket Filch, startling everyone. Peeves dropped Ms. Norris, who meowed and trotted away, carrying Filch with her.

For a moment, the corridor was quiet. And then Peeves collapsed into a fit of giggles. Ignoring him, Helen turned to the Grey Lady.

"I think I better get going," she said. "I'll visit you again." _And tell you all about it, _she thought.

"Good girl," said Helena. "Rest up before your first day of classes." The ghost gave Helen a knowing look. Helen smiled and walked off quickly, leave Helena to deal with Peeves.


	2. Chapter 2

Lily was the first one in her dormitory to wake. She always was. And she loved it. She loved being alone, right at the break of dawn. She loved reading in her bed, with the light from the rising sun. She loved watching Hogwarts wake up. What she loved the most, although she would never admit it, was watching her roommates sleep. This sounds creepy, and Lily was very aware that it was a bit strange, but she couldn't help it. She did it when she had sleepovers with Helen also. When they were awake, they were judgy, and fake, wearing masks, and making themselves feel better by putting other people down. But when they were sleeping, they were real. They looked calm, and they looked unworried about what other people would think. They looked angelic. Especially Juniper.

The bathrooms were always empty in the mornings before everyone woke up, so that was always a plus in Lily's book. If there was one bad thing about Hogwarts, besides the homework, annoying roommates, and boring classes, it would be a lack of personal space. Sharing a room wasn't so bad, but the bathroom situation was awful. Of course, it would be fine if you actually liked the other people in your house, but Lily hated the bathrooms at Hogwarts. First, the showers were only warm for the first two minutes, and the toilets were never all that clean. The sinks were fine if you could actually get to one. Twenty girls sharing two mirrors equals chaos. So having the bathroom to oneself was amazing.

Lily took her time showering and washing her face before returning to her room and changing. The other girls were just waking up and beginning to talk amongst themselves, so Lily put in her earbuds and tuned the world out. So she could think.

Juniper was the last one to wake up. Everyone else had already gone to breakfast, except Lily, who hated being the first out of her four friends to be at the Great Hall, because that meant that she would have to sit with her roommates until Cyrus or Helen or Hugo showed up. So she waited.

Juniper was surprisingly not in a rush to meet up with her friends. If anything, she seemed to take her time, slowly putting on her robes and gathering her books. Lily still had her earbuds and was unpacking her trunk in a very organized way. In Lily's mind, everything needed to have a place where it fits, perfectly. So all of her shoes were lined up meticulously, and her clothing stacked neatly in the drawers. Lily had a touch of OCD. If things were out of order, then it drove a little bit crazy. She straightened her pillows and grabbed her bag, heading out the door.

"Wait."

Juniper's voice cut through Lily's music, and she stopped in the doorway of the dormitory. She paused her music and removed one earbud as she turned to face Juniper, who was standing by her bed.

"I just had a question," Juniper said, tentatively. "Why are you always wearing those headphones?"

This was strange. Juniper hardly ever talked to Lily except for basic politeness and to ask for help. She had never asked such an out of the ordinary question. For a moment, Lily didn't want to tell her roommate. Juniper would probably just make fun of her anyway. But something about the look on Juniper's face made Lily think that Juniper actually cared.

Lily cleared her throat. "They help me ignore the world, so I don't have to think about other people. They help me…" Lily didn't know how to put it into words. She looked down "I don't know. Listening to music keeps me from overthinking, from…"

"Spiraling?" Juniper offered.

Lily raised her head to look at Juniper. "Yes, exactly," Lily said, in a somewhat astonished tone.

Juniper smiled and nodded her head. "Thanks," she said. "I'll see you at breakfast." And she left.

Lily was left feeling shocked. How was it that Juniper understood this thing that felt like it was in Lily's head exclusively? She had practically put the words into Lily's mouth. Lily tried to ignore the appalling thoughts that entered her head without her permission. No, Juniper had not been making fun of you. No, Juniper was not going to tell the entire school that Lily. Probably.

Taking a deep breath, Lily shook her head and headed down to breakfast.

The Great Hall was abuzz with the beginning of term excitement. Friends were comparing schedules and discussing their class. The first-years look nervous, as did the fifth years. The OWLs were the main cause of stress for the fifth years. It was necessary to do well on your OWLs, for your future depended on your scores. Cyrus tried not to let all the pressure get to him. It was the first day of school, for godsakes.

He was sitting at the Hufflepuff table next to Hugo. After five years of experience, Cyrus had learned that the Hufflepuff table was by far the most welcoming. Sitting with the Ravenclaws was incredibly uncomfortable; it felt like they all looked down at you. The Gryffindors just gave you death stares, daring you to challenge them. And Cyrus hated sitting at the Slytherin table. It felt cold and unforgiving. It felt expectant. It felt like home.

Helen was the last one to arrive in the Great Hall. She slid in next to Lily, who sat across from Cyrus and Hugo.

"Morning, Helen," Cyrus said, his mouth full of food.

"Good morning, Cyrus. Lily. Hugo" responded Helena. She reached for a delicious looking plate of scones. "So, let's see them schedules."

There was a quick silence while everyone searched in their bag for their schedules and began to compare them

Lily sighed. "Ugh, I have Potions alone."

"Yeah but we have Transfiguration together, " said Hugo.

"Does anyone have Defense Against the Dark Arts after lunch today?" Helen asked.

Cyrus nodded, "Yep. Hey Hugo, we've got History of Magic together."

"Lily and I have History of Magic together too," Helen commented. "And Care of Magical Creatures."

"I have Charms with you Cyrus," Lily said, examining his paper.

"Oh hey. We all have Care of Magical Creatures together," said Hugo, excitedly.

The group exclaimed happily and continued to eat their food, the mood light and playful. Professor Talpin came by, scolding them for sitting at the wrong table. But he appeared to be joking. It was always difficult to tell with Talpin.

After breakfast, the four headed to their first class. For Helen, it was Transfiguration, taught by Professor Raywood. A fairly interesting class, but Helen really wasn't in the mood, especially because none of her friends were with her. Lily always made classes more bearable. Raywood assigned way to much homework for the first day. An essay on the properties of the transfiguration of animate objects.

Before she headed off to Potions, Helen met up with Cyrus and Lily, who had both just come from Charms. Hugo was waiting for them in an empty staircase, where they had ten minutes between classes to talk. Or simply be in each other's company. Or, as the year went on, finish up last-minute homework.

"Well, how was everyone's first class?" Hugo mumbled, his mouth full of food.

His question was followed by murmurs. No one seemed to be in a very delightful mood.

Hugo swallowed. "Come on, don't tell me that it was that bad."

"Professor Spindle has grown a beard," said Cyrus. "If that is of any interest to any of you."

Lily nodded in agreement. " And his breath stills smells the same."

"Wonderful," Helen said sarcastically, giving Lily's redhead a pat. "Well, I best be going. Bunyip won't be happy if I'm late to potions." She picked up her book bag and waved goodbye. The others followed suit.

Lily and Hugo walked together all the way up to the northernmost tower. The Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom was light and open. Professor Talpin stood at the door, welcoming the students. She gave Lily a side hug as Lily walked through the door. Professor Talpin had been the head of Gryffindor house ever since first year. Lily felt very close to Talpin. In September of the first year, Lily hardly spoke to anyone, aside from her family. Talpin helped her out of her shell, encouraging her to talk to people and make friends, although never forcing her to always be socializing. Lily gave Talpin a smile and went to take her seat next to Hugo. Professor Talpin's heels clicked on the stone floors as she made her way to the front of the classroom. She grabbed a piece of chalk and scrawled, in large messy letters, OWLs. The class let out a collective groan. Talking about OWLs at the very beginning of class seemed to be a popular trend among Hogwarts professors this year.

"Ordinary Wizarding Levels," Professor Talpin began. "At the end of the year, you all will be taking these tests, that are not only deciding factors in your future but are important milestones as students. Do not fret, I assure that by the end of the year, you will be more than prepared for the test." She picked up a stack of parchment from her desk and walked up and down the aisles, depositing a piece of paper in front of each student. "As a review, please write every single defensive or offensive spell that you remember. You may begin."

Lily pulled out her quill and ink and began to write, starting with the easy ones: _expelliarmus, stupefy, reducto. _

"Lily!" Juniper had turned around in her chair, facing Lily. She smiled politely. "Do you happen to have a spare quill I could borrow?"

Lily nodded and rummaged in her bag, producing a fresh quill. She handed it over to Juniper, who nodded gratefully and returned to her work. Lily did the same.

Hugo nudged her. "What was that about?"

"Whaddya mean?"

"Juniper," Hugo said. "Why'd she ask you for a quill?"

"Because she needed one?"

"Yeah, but she could have asked one of her many friends."

Lily pondered this for a moment. It was a little bit strange. Maybe... no. She shook off the possibility and shrugged. "I don't know, Hugo. Now shut up so I can focus."

Hugo did shut up. The rest of the class was spent reviewing fourth year.

Hugo and Lily met up with Helen and Cyrus in the Great Hall. They ate in comfortable silence. Hugo and Cyrus amused themselves with throwing grapes into a poor first year's water goblet. It was so simply familiar, Helen had to smile.

This happiness began to seep out of her as she entered hour 2 of History of Magic. Professor Binns just seemed to drone on and on. His voice was just so monotone, and it was so easy to look through the ghost rather than at him. She and Lily half-heartedly passed notes and attempted to amuse themselves, but that soon became tiresome. Absentmindedly, Helen turned to Lily and picked a strand of her friend's reddish-brown, long, rough, hair and twirled it around her finger. Lily gave her a small smile. Helen smiled back and began to weave an intricate braid with her slender fingers. Lily, slumped on the desk next to Helen, had to admit that it felt really nice. For the rest of History of Magic, Helen wove a braid, and then undid it, and repeat, her fingers running through Lily's hair to the soundtrack of Professor Binns talking about the elf rebellion of '64.


	3. Chapter 3

While Helen and Lily were braiding their way through History of Magic, Cyrus and Hugo were having a water balloon fight in Potions. It was to test to see whether the water-resistance potions that the class had made worked. Half of the class managed a cucumbery green potion, and stayed dry, while the other half made a lime-colored concoction and were drenched. The potions teacher, Professor Bunyip, who was also the head of Hufflepuff, decided to add a fun twist, adding a drop of magical dye to the water balloons, turning the hair, clothes, and skin of anyone who hadn't successfully made the potion, bright purple for two hours. Cyrus and Hugo had the time of their lives and left the classroom feeling cheerful. Hugo's robes had turned the color of grapes, while Cyrus' were still stark white. Both were laughing, at each other, at themselves, at every little thing anyone said. They split at the North Tower; Hugo to the fifth floor to meet up with Lily for Transfiguration, and Cyrus outside, to the astronomy tower in the west.

"Cyrus." Cyrus stopped. It wasn't someone saying his name that made him stop, it was the voice.

Cyrus pivoted and turned to face the source of the voice. She was slender, with shoulder-length black hair that fell in perfect ringlets. Her robes were ironed to right angles and her shoes were unscuffed and shined.

"Maxine," Cyrus replied, trying to mimic her soulless tone.

Maxine walked forward. "I thought you ought to know that Hemlock made me quidditch captain." She paused, hoping for Cyrus' face to betray his emotions. Cyrus was crestfallen that the Head of Slytherin hadn't asked Cyrus to be captain, but he didn't give Maxine that satisfaction. He had played on the team for the same amount of time as Maxine, and they were both beaters, but Cyrus thought he was a much better team player.

"Good for you, Maxine," Cyrus said, struggling to keep his voice level.

Maxine's eyes narrowed. "Tryouts are at nine, this Saturday. Hope you make the team." She pushed past Cyrus.

Cyrus sighed. He and Maxine had been on rough terms since the second year, ever since they had joined the school teams. He had tried several times to become friends with her, but each time he failed and had long since given up. The bell rang and Cyrus realized he was a long way from the Astronomy tower and Cyrus broke into a jog, so Madam Ambarella wouldn't set him a 15-inch paper on the first day.

After History of Magic, Helen dragged her feet to Divination. The class seemed to drag on, and by the end, most students were half asleep. Helen was relieved when it was over and ran all the way to the courtyard to meet up with her friends. They compared homework loads, and Cyrus and Helen agreed to meet up in the library after dinner and before bed to work on their Transfiguration paper. Hugo and Lily agreed to wait until the last possible moment to do their papers. They talked for a bit, before heading up to the Great Hall for dinner.

At the Gryffindor table, Lily was moderating a debate between Celeste and Nearly Headless Nick. They were in fierce discussion on whether a ghost could make a splash when they jumped into water. Neither had ever gone swimming as a ghost, so they went to ask Moaning Myrtle her professional opinion. Once they were gone, Lily ate in silence.

During dessert, Juniper turned to Lily and asked, "So, Lily, I heard you were quidditch captain this year."

Lily groaned inwardly. She hadn't forgotten but she had placed it in the back of her mind in hopes of forgetting. A week before school had started, Lily had received a letter from Talpin, about Lily being quidditch captain. Her parents had been thrilled, of course, but Lily was terrified. She couldn't be a good leader. She was too shy,

Forcing a smile, Lily nodded.

"That's amazing! You are going to be incredible at it!" Juniper said.

"Maybe," Lily offered weakly.

"I'm thinking of trying out this year," Juniper continued. "When are tryouts?"

Lily froze for a second. "Ummm, Thursday," she said, randomly picking a day.

Juniper smiled. "Great! What time?"

"I'm not sure."

"How about four?"

Lily nodded, grateful for Juniper.

"See you then," Juniper said, standing up from the table. Her friends followed as she walked out of the Great Hall.

Lily had barely a second to herself before Rudy Oakwood plopped down next to her.

"I heard you talking about quidditch tryouts," he said, smirking confidently. "I'm excited to see you as captain."

Lily looked down at the table, and raised her eyebrows, silently pleading Helen or Cyrus or Hugo to come and rescue her.

Rudy was still talking. "I've been practicing all summer with my dad, you see. Although he has been busy with all the Ministry stuff. He's an Auror, you know. A very important part of the Ministry. It's their job to catch dark wizards."

Lily was debating whether or not to tell Rudy that her father, Harry Potter, was the head Auror, and she knew everything about them when Helen appeared.

"Rudy!" She exclaimed. "Pleasure to see you again. If you wouldn't mind giving me a second with my good friend Lily." Helen placed her hands on Lily's shoulders and Lily leaned into the touch.

Rudy frowned, but got up and returned to his seat.

"Thank you, Helen," Lily said, as Helen sat down.

"You are very welcome. That guy won't take a hint."


End file.
